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[Lemunde]

One thing that has always irked me ever since caverns were added is how inaccessible they are. Building an entrance to a cavern layer is just asking for trouble. No matter how many soldiers decked out in adamantine you have guarding it there's always that one FB that tears through all of them or leaves them with rotting or melting flesh ultimately leading the rest of your dwarves into the inevitable tantrum spiral. My strategy has always been to just wall it off completely but I feel like I'm cutting myself off from a significant part of the game. While I don't really like dealing with FBs, there's all sorts of other creatures down there that can provide their own brands of fun. That is if they weren't all getting eaten and ripped apart by FBs.

Occasionally I'll set up a system where I trap the FBs in small rooms underground. This is kind of a cheat though as it exploits the fact that nothing can destroy a bridge from underneath, thus turning it into a powerful trap door.

I know a lot of people use cave-in traps but in my opinion it's a bit of an expensive operation as there's only so much cave you can drop before you run out. Is there some other sure fire strategy of dealing with FBs that won't leave your fortress crippled?

[StagnantSoul]

Why, artifact doors, my good sir! Some people never get them, but I have a world with four artifact doors: one for locking off my main underground fortress from the stairway, and then one for each cavern layer. They're indestructible, instantly locking, and don't require any levers or pressure plates. Just make your dwarves that will be miners have at least novice in carpentry, and they have a good chance to make an indestructible wooden door. Or, you could just attach a lever to a raising bridge into each cavern layer, with the lever being in between your bedrooms and meeting area. Plus put your alcohol stockpile nearby, and there's a near 100% chance you'll have a fast gate close. If the forgotten beast isn't a metal one, and doesn't have a spider body or dangerous attack, I rush it with my militia. They're basically normal soldiers with weaker equipment, and lots of dogs.

[Urist McShire]

Depends on the FB. I'm used to dealing with megabeasts and semi-megabeasts opposed to FBs because I prefer to stay away from the Underdark. If it's a "normal" FB like a quadruped made of coral that spits acid then I feel fine rushing it with melee troops while crossbows chip away at it from the rear. If it's something like a giant fire-breathing snail then I get it into a confined space and fight it with melee troops armed with shields while ensuring that I've got water nearby. The current one I'm preparing to fight is a gigantic quadruped made of fire that has both a fire breath attack and can fire fireballs and since it's made of fire, sets everything around it on fire. My plan for fighting that one is letting it rush up my stone staircase and then draining my cistern on it to put the fire out while marksdwarves shoot at it.

Usually my strategy involves my military in some fashion and occasionally a trap specifically designed for the beasty.Cave-in devices take too much effort to prepare despite how effective they are. You could also try caging a megabeast from above such as a dragon and dropping it onto the FB, let the two duke it out, and then slay the victor with your steel or candy-clad dwarves.

[TheHossofMoss]

What I like to do is put a "garbage dump" hole that goes from the highest part of my fortress to the cavern entrance below. I put a door right beside the drop, and then have my dwarves drop heavy stones on it from above.

It helped kill a FB that was humanoid in form, and had deadly dust. It was made of some gem, Tiger Iron I think. But we dropped like 10 stones of Cobaltite on it, and finally died after getting hit in the head too many times. I had shot over 300 bolts at it too. Just chipped it slightly. On the plus side, it did make my archer squads almost legendary in Marksman status.

[Torrenal]

My caverns entrance varies depending on what I aim to use the caverns for.

Most of the time, it consists of the staircase that intersects with the cavern, and constructed floor across the staircase just before the cavern (eg: no access).

When I do formally access the caverns, the entry consists of a branch from my main staircase, some 30-80 urist in length, the far end breaching the caverns in some way, and raising bridges at both ends to seal it.  Seperate levers for each bridge, in my main meeting hall.

If I can, I construct an artificact door/hatch in it to occupy FBs, and use the sealed length of hallway to contain the FB until I decide how to best manage (or end) its existence.

//Torrenal

[Crashmaster]

I like to carve a natural stone fort with 360 degree fortifications on the z+1 level that overlooks a cleared out area of the caverns. If it comes to melee the battle takes place in a 3/7 water pool on the z-1 level of the caverns fort because I think it seems to help mitigate syndromes - but I don't know if it really helps. Caverns squads are permanently stationed there while access is open and well-supplied as they are sealed in if possible syndrome contagion is suspected. The facility should be fully magma- purifiable.
Frequently accompanied by door-baited cells for trapping of potentially re-purposable forgotten beasts.

[RocheLimit]

If I want access quickly, I dig out a ladder-like series of tunnels connecting to my main stairway, with drawbridges at the end of each 'rung'.  Build some walls so only one path is available, link those drawbridges to a single lever, and put 2-3 normal doors in the 'rung' (remember, building destroyers destroy buildings from 2 tiles away).  When a FB shows up, wait till they are occupied with the doors, then pull the lever to trap them until later.


If I want long term, open-and-forget cavern access, though, I take the time to automate the ladder setup with floodgates, some water reservoirs, and pressure plates linked to the bridges, with plenty of cave traps to catch cave fauna and room after the ladder to put a webbed cage trap.  Then dig out a single tunnel connecting all three caverns to the far end of the ladder, and all (or as many as rungs you have dug out) FB's are taken care of.

[pisskop]

Cage traps, bridges, and controlling access.

You don't let dwarves auto-collect webs.  You tell them to go get them.
You don't randomly designate whole floors for woodchopping, you start with the area right outside your tunnel.
You don't  willy nilly just all or nothing the caves, you take them in sections and be prepared for the occasional death.  They do happen.


You treat the caverns 'with respect', like they have dangerous creatures.  And if you don't feel up to killing a FB, you raise your bridge, or trap it with an artifact door, or actually trap it with a bridge that blocks a door. 

[Button]

Artifact furniture + repeating spike trap.

Unless it has webs.

Webs are for silk farming.

[Levi]

Usually I keep the caverns walled off, so I don't have a strategy.

I'm playing a fort right now where I built right in the caverns though, but so far I've been lucky and no forgotten beasts have shown up.  I guess if one shows up I'll send my squad of 40 military dwarfs at him, and hope nothing bad happens.

[vjek]

I use the same strategy for all beasts (clown, titan, fb, mb, smb) and that is a lever tied to a support, supporting a 3x3 constructed floor made out of rock blocks.
I put some doors on the fort side of the room, the building destroyer stops to beat on the doors (they don't go anywhere, they're just room decorations) I pull the lever, and make the corpse into roasts, if it's edible.

Voila!

The rock blocks can be recovered and re-used, so i think all you lose out of the deal is the support mechanism.  Plenty of stone around for more of those.

[Philii]

I am just send Legendary army.

[Melting Sky]

Send in the kitty first.

If it doesn't melt into a puddle of syndrome induced goo then I send in the soldiers. If the kitty does die of ebola or have it's eyes rot out of its skull etc. then I will set up a more elaborate system to kill it and make damn sure my dwarves don't get anywhere near that thing.

[PLANKS]

Artifact furniture + repeating spike trap.

Unless it has webs.

Webs are for silk farming.

So how do you go about silk farming a FB?

[pisskop]

Artifact furniture + repeating spike trap.

Unless it has webs.

Webs are for silk farming.

So how do you go about silk farming a FB?

Same way you silk farm a GCS.
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.34:Silk_farming